Multi-purpose large capacity pump

ABSTRACT

A multi-purpose large capacity pump includes a cylinder having top and bottom ends closed by a top lid and a bottom lid. The top lid is provided with an inlet port that is in communication through a first one-way valve with an interior space of the cylinder. The bottom lid includes a second one-way valve in communication with the interior space of the cylinder. An output tube connects between the second one-way valve and an outlet port of the top lid. A protection enclosure is set around an outer circumference of the cylinder and a base is provided to fix and support the bottom end of the cylinder. A pull bar extends through the top lid into the cylinder to allow an inner end thereof to couple to a piston. The pull bar has an outer end to which a handle is mounted.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of pumps, and in particular to a multi-purpose large capacity pump that is applicable to various containers and is not restricted to the pump being integrated with a pump receptacle so that the pump is useful in withdrawal and supply of a large volume of liquid or gas.

2. The Related Arts

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional pump is shown, which comprises a pump receptacle 10 having a bottom to which a base 11 is mounted and a top to which a cover 12 is mounted. The pump receptacle 10 defines a hollow interior in which a cylinder 13 is mounted with a bottom of the cylinder 13 fixed, in a sealed form, to the bottom of the pump receptacle. The cover 12 comprises a vacuum port 14 mounted thereto for external connection with an air compressor. The cover 12 forming an opening to which a lid 15 is mounted. The lid 15 forming a through hole for connection with a fluid drawing pipe 16. The cover 12 comprises a pull bar 17 extending therethrough at a location corresponding to the cylinder 13 mounted inside the pump receptacle 10. The pull bar has an end to which a piston 18 that is set in sealed contact with the cylinder 13 is connected. The pump receptacle 10 comprises a one-way valve mounted thereto at a location close to the bottom thereof. A hose is connected to the valve and has an end to which a clip is mounted.

The conventional pump is structured to combine with a bulky receptacle 10 so that the pumping mechanism of the pump can only be made up of a thin cylinder 13. The capacity is thus limited to a small level. The use of the conventional pump is such that liquid is first received in the pump receptacle 10. This limits the use or application of the pump to other containers. In addition, due to the pump being integrated with the receptacle, the capacity of the pump is limited. The liquid received in the pump receptacle is also susceptible to limitation imposed by the receptacle. Consequently, the use of the pump is greatly limited.

In view of the deficiencies of the conventional pump discussed above, it is desired to provide a novel structure that overcomes such deficiencies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-purpose large capacity pump, which is usable with various containers and is not limited to the pump being integrated with a pump receptacle so that the pump is useful in withdrawal and supply of a large volume of liquid or gas. pad

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a multi-purpose large capacity pump, which comprises a cylinder having top and bottom ends to which a top lid and a bottom lid are respectively mounted. The top lid is provided with an inlet port that is set in communication through a first one-way valve to an interior space of the cylinder. The bottom lid comprises a second one-way valve that is in communication with the interior space of the cylinder and an output tube that has an end connected to an outlet port of the top lid. A protection enclosure is provided around an outer circumference of the cylinder and a base is provided to fix and support the bottom end of cylinder. The base comprises two step plates mounted to opposite sides thereto to be stepped by a user's feet. Movably mounted in the interior space of the cylinder is a piston made up of a rigid piston board and a flexible piston membrane. A pull bar extends through the top lid into the interior space of the cylinder to allow an inner end of the pull bar to be coupled to the piston board and the flexible piston membrane. The pull bar has an outer end to which a handle is mounted. As such, pressing down the handle causes gas or liquid received in the cylinder to flow sequentially through the second one-way valve and the output tube to discharge through the outlet port. Meanwhile, gas or liquid from an external source is drawn through the inlet port and the first one-way valve into an upper chamber of the interior space of the cylinder that is located above the piston. Pulling the handle upward causes gas or liquid to deform the flexible piston membrane downward and thus getting into a lower chamber of the interior space of the cylinder that is located below the piston. The inlet port and the outlet port are each connected to a connection hose to facilitate inward drawing or outward discharging of gas or liquid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional pump structure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing a pump according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the pump according to embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the pump according to the embodiment of the present invention viewed from the front side;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the pump according to the embodiment of the present invention taken from a lateral side;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional illustrating an operation of the pump of the present invention to deliver gas or liquid from an upper side of a piston to a lower side of the piston; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation of the pump of the present invention to pump out gas or liquid through an outlet port while at the same time drawing in gas or liquid through an inlet port.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1-7, the present invention provides a multi-purpose large capacity pump, of which components will described individually as follows.

A top lid 20 has a top to which an inlet port 21 and an outlet port 22 are mounted.

A bottom lid 30 has a side to which a one-way valve 31 that will be also be referred to as the “second one-way valve” herein.

A cylinder 40 has a top end to which the top lid 20 is mounted. The cylinder 40 has a bottom end to which the bottom lid 30 is mounted. The cylinder 40 has a side face to which a one-way valve 41 that will be referred to as the “first one-way valve” herein is mounted. An output tube 42 is arranged next to the side face of the cylinder 40. The inlet port 21 of the top lid 20 is set in communication through the first one-way valve 41 with an interior space of the cylinder 40. The second one-way valve 31 of the bottom lid 30 is set in communication with the interior space of the cylinder 40 and a leading end of the output tube 42. A tailing end of the output tube 42 is connected to the outlet port 22 of the top lid 20.

A protection enclosure 50 is set around the cylinder 40 and the output tube 42 and the one-way valves 41, 31.

A base 60 is provided to fix the bottom end of the cylinder 40 and a bottom end of the protection enclosure 50 that circumferentially surrounds the cylinder 40. Two step plates 61 are respectively mounted to opposite sides of the base 60 to be stepped by a user's feet.

A piston 70 is received in the interior space of the cylinder 40. The piston 70 is made up of a rigid piston board 71 and a flexible piston membrane 72.

A pull bar 80 extends through the top lid 20 into the interior space of the cylinder 40 to allow an inner end of the pull bar 80 to be coupled to the piston 70. The pull bar 80 has an outer end to which a handle 81 is mounted.

All these components described above are assembled together to form a pump 90, which is operable with various containers.

Pressing down the handle 81 causes gas or liquid received in the cylinder 40 to flow sequentially through the second one-way valve 31 and the output tube 42 and discharge through the outlet port 22. At the same time, an amount of gas or liquid from an external source is drawn through the inlet port 21 and the first one-way valve 41 into an upper chamber of the interior space of the cylinder 40 that is located above the piston 70. Pulling the handle 81 upward causes the gas or liquid to deform the flexible piston membrane 72 downward and thus getting into a lower chamber of the interior space of the cylinder 40 that is located below the piston 70. The inlet port 21 and the outlet port 22 can be each connected to a connection hose 23 to facilitate inward drawing or outward discharging of gas or liquid.

A plurality of tie rods 43 is arranged outside and around the cylinder 40. A plurality of bolts 24, 32 is respectively received through the top lid 20 and the bottom lid 30 to be fastened to the tie rods 43, thereby fixing the top lid 20, the cylinder 40, and the bottom lid 30 together. The base 60 is also fixed to the bottom lid 30 by a plurality of threaded fasteners 62 extending therethrough.

Referring to FIG. 6, the multi-purpose large capacity pump according to the present invention is useful with any container 91 by placing a free end of the connection hose 23 connected to the inlet port 21 in the container 91 and the connection hose 23 connected to the outlet port 22 set at a site for supplying the gas or liquid. Through pulling the handle 81 upward, gas or liquid is forced to pass over the downward-deformed flexible piston membrane 72 to get into the lower chamber of the interior space of the cylinder 40 that is below the piston 70.

Referring to FIG. 7, the multi-purpose large capacity pump according to the present invention is useful with any container 91 by placing a free end of the connection hose 23 connected to the inlet port 21 in the container 91 and the connection hose 23 connected to the outlet port 22 set at a site for supplying the gas or liquid. Through pressing down the handle 81, gas or liquid received in the cylinder 40 is forced to flow through the second one-way valve 31, the output tube 42, and the outlet port 22 to be discharged by the connection hose 23 connected to the outlet port 22. At the same time, gas or liquid from an external source is drawn in through the connection hose 23 connected to the inlet port 21 to flow through the inlet port 21 and the first one-way valve 41 and get into the upper chamber of the interior space of the cylinder 40 that is above the piston 70.

The operation of drawing in liquid can be applied to changing used oil of an automobile. The operation of pumping air can be applied to expelling air out of a quilt storage bag for reducing volume. Water filling into automobile radiator or other pumping operations may use the pump of the present invention to feed water. Feeding air or gas, such as blowing balloons, can also be operated with the present invention to supply air or gas. These are just some illustrative examples where the pump of the present invention is used to draw air or liquid or to supply air or liquid and the present invention can be applied to various fields.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A multi-purpose large capacity pump, comprising: a top lid, which a top to which lid an inlet port and an outlet port are mounted; a bottom lid, which has a side to which a second one-way valve is mounted; a cylinder, which has a top end to which the top lid is mounted and a bottom end to which the bottom lid is mounted, the cylinder having a side face to which a first one-way valve is mounted, the inlet port of the top lid being in communication through the first one-way valve with an interior space of the cylinder, the second one-way valve of the bottom lid being in communication with the interior space of the cylinder and a leading end of the output tube, the output tube having a tailing end connected to the outlet port of the top lid; a piston, which is received in the interior space of the cylinder and comprises a rigid piston board and a flexible piston membrane; and a pull bar, which extends through the top lid into the interior space of the cylinder to allow an inner end of the pull bar to be coupled to the piston, the pull bar having an outer end to which a handle is mounted; whereby these components are assembled together to form a pump that is operable with various types of container, wherein pressing down the handle causes gas or liquid received in the cylinder to flow sequentially through the second one-way valve and the output tube to discharge through the outlet port and wherein gas or liquid from an external source is drawn through the inlet port and the first one-way valve into an upper chamber of the interior space of the cylinder that is located above the piston; and pulling the handle upward causes gas or liquid to deform the flexible piston membrane downward and thus getting into a lower chamber of the interior space of the cylinder that is located below the piston.
 2. The multi-purpose large capacity pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pump comprises two connection hose, one of the connection hoses being connected to the inlet port for drawing in gas or liquid, the other one of the connection hoses being connected to the outlet port for discharging gas or liquid.
 3. The multi-purpose large capacity pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein a protection enclosure is provided to surround an outer circumference of the cylinder and a base is provided to fix and support the bottom end of the cylinder, the base comprising two step plates mounted to opposite sides of the base.
 4. The multi-purpose large capacity pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of tie rods is provided around the cylinder, bolts being set through the top lid and the bottom lid to engage the tie rods to fix the top lid, the cylinder, and the bottom lid together, threaded fasteners being set through the base to fix the base to the bottom lid. 